Sacrificial Worship in Ibibio Traditional Religion

Abstract

This essay is a brief study in the sacrificial system of the Ibibio people of Nigeria. It involves a description of the different sacrificial types offered by the Ibibio and a theoretical reflection on their religious significance. Attempt is also made to explicate in footnotes some ritual symbols as a full treatment of this aspect is not possible within the space limitation. I. BACKGROUND The Ibibio, the sixth largest people in Nigeria, number about three million people spread over ten clans in the South Eastern part of the country. They dwell mainly in villages with farming, trading and fishing as the principal occupations. Their society is structured around a patrilineal system of descent with significant matrifocal elements. The household (ufok), which today is giving way to the elementary family as the basic social unit, consists of a man as the head, his wife or wives, his unmarried children and married sons with their wives and children. All owe allegiance to the household head and occupy the same homestead (otung) which may comprise up to four buildings. A number of households acknowledging a common unbroken agnatic line of descent constitute the lineage (ekpuk) which is considered a permanent unit comprising not only living but also dead members who are thought still to influence the course of events within it. There may be up to seven ekpuk in an average-size village, and the village, which may number 1000-5000 inhabitants, is a politically autonomous unit headed by the chief (obong idung). To assist in governing the people, there are in every village a council of elders and cultic associations which are religious in character and to which all, both men and women belong. A group of villages make up the clan each of which has a dialect, a uniform custom and a clan head. Neither the clan nor the people is

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